Walmart filed for a glut of patents, published today, that suggest the US’s biggest retailer could be ramping up incorporation of emerging tech in ways that would dramatically change how consumers shop and order.

It was almost two years ago to the day when Amazon released a cheeky video detailing its plans to conquer the skies with a fleet of package-delivering drones. We’re still waiting for these unmanned aircraft to replace standard trucks and delivery personnel, but it’s clear Amazon hasn’t abandoned the idea. Earlier this…

Who delivers Amazon orders? Increasingly, it’s plainclothes contractors with few labor protections, driving their own cars, competing for shifts on the company’s own Uber-like platform. Though it’s deployed in dozens of cities and associated with one of the world’s biggest companies, government agencies and customers…

A man in east London was expecting a package from Amazon but the special delivery on his driveway was not what he’d ordered. After finding a bag filled with poop and Amazon calling cards, a quick check of CCTV cameras indicated that a delivery driver for the e-commerce giant was responsible.

For all I know, Uber’s food delivery service UberEats is a perfectly fine method of ordering food. But the stomach-turning product that a Canadian couple claims showed up at their door instead of pizza ensures that I’ll be thinking twice about placing an order.

A frustrated writer and poster enthusiast got upset when she had a hard time getting a Patti Smith print delivered to her home in Brooklyn. What did she do? She redesigned the slip that the United States Postal Service (USPS) uses to notify you that they’ve fail to deliver.

The FAA seems to have suddenly realized every dad in America is getting a drone for Christmas. So, it’s setting up a ‘drone taskforce’ to try and register every drone before U.S. airspace is shut down by a million plastic quadrotors. Amazon, Google and Walmart seem to be on board.

Amazon isn’t the only company that’s serious about delivering you stuff via the medium of drone: Google’s skunkworks X division has been working on ‘Project Wing’ for a few years now, and the research is starting to bear fruit.

Like Uber, but for delivering Amazon packages? In its ongoing effort to get packages to consumers as quickly as possible, Amazon may soon employ an Uber-like app that uses ordinary people as delivery drivers.

Forget drones, Amazon has been experimenting with a far more innovative method of providing same-day delivery to its customers. As part of a new pilot program, it turns out that one of the most efficient methods of getting packages to doorsteps are good old-fashioned yellow taxis.

After a soft launch in a Brooklyn neighborhood, more New Yorkers can now order Amazon Fresh. For a limited time, Amazon Prime members in certain ZIP codes will be able to get free same-day delivery of over 500,000 goods, including groceries, electronics, and items from local vendors. But there's still a ways to go.

Time is not kind to grilled cheese sandwiches; there's a (very) slim window once they've left the skillet before they turn into a congealed bummer. Which makes home delivery all but impossible. But the SmartBox, a highly engineered container, promises to get these fickle sandos to your door with minimum rubberization.…